Cheap coffee
This piece has nothing to do with sex, dating or the incredibly hot women of Iceland. Rather, it was inspired by the incredibly cheap lattés at Kaffibarinn (250 ISK for a double!), even if those bastards raised their price by 50 ISK the exact day this article was researched. At 300 ISK, the coffee there is still relatively cheap (especially if you cheat the system and get a double – they do not differentiate and you get lots more caffeine for your krónur. This might also work for a triple, let us know), and it’s pretty good too. So Kaffibarinn still offers some of the cheapest coffee in 101 Rvk, and they have free waffles on Sundays. Did you hear that? FREE WAFFLES!
Cheap lunch
Bónus is the cheapest grocery store in Iceland according to a lot of distinguished surveys (and my very own investigations), and their logo is a big, pink pig plastered. This makes Bónus the grocery store of choice for students, poor people and Grapevine reporters, even though their vegetables are often sworn to the dark side and their selection is ghastly. They also sell rather shoddy Bónus-brand sandwiches for the meagre price of 139 ISK. Their shrimp sandwiches should be avoided, unless you have a mayo-fetish, but the tuna is often passable enough to warrant buying during times of trouble. I would recommend the absurdly cheap instant noodles they sell, but I am highly sceptical of them containing any real nutrition. So I won’t.
Cheap nothing
Always worth mentioning is the absurd pricing of the so-called “clock stores” (24, 10-11 and 11-11) and for newcomers there is a rule of thumb to be learned: an Icelandic grocery store should be avoided at any cost if it has a number in its name. This is because every product there is double the reasonable price, so even if you can afford to shop there on account of the five jobs you work, it still feels remarkably like unsolicited anal sex. There are only a few instances where it is justifiable to shop at a “clock store”, such as experiencing an Extreme Grocery Emergency or to make fun of the prices. And also if you want to meet Lord Sauron in person, as rumour has it that he works as shift-manager at their Austurstræti branch on Sundays. Otherwise: don’t say you weren’t warned.
Found any cheap stuff you’d like to share? Or some overpricing you’d like to complain about? Send a note to our resident miser: haukur@grapevine.is
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